Electric switch design standards have progressed only slightly in the last fifty years. The conventional subsurface mounted switch box has been used widely due to its safety and simplicity. The number of such units installed in the United States alone is in excess of hundreds of millions. Although this toggle-type electrical switch has become a familiar aspect of everyone's life, little has been done to enhance the aesthetics of this dull and pedestrian system. Instead these million switches are now covered by a simple slotted, flat plate which covers the switch box yet permits access to the toggle for operation. While this simplicity has many commendable features, it certainly is not even a minor element of the design of a room, home, office or building.
The present invention allows the consumer to transform their conventional wall plates and toggles into imaginative but utilitarian "wall sculptures". According to the present invention, slider caps are provided in a variety of shapes or forms, as well as colors, to cover the toggle and to create a range of decorative choices to meet the preferences of individual consumers in the decoration of their room interiors. Adapting the wall plate/slider cap of the instant invention to an existing wall switch is a simple, do-it-yourself retrofit. It only involves removing the existing wall plate, fastening the adapter plate in its place and snapping decorative cover and slider cap into place. Mounting screws, visible in conventional systems, are now hidden by the decorative cover.
Wall plates according to the instant invention are not limited to a single switch configuration. They can be molded in two, three or four (gang) switch configurations. In these multiple switch configurations, decorative slider caps can be mixed or matched in shape or color for greater variety. The ability to use different shapes and colors for these oversize caps on gang switch configurations might also prove to be a benefit to visually-impaired or physically handicapped persons in identifying or activating these switches.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide enhanced design features to the use of the subsurface mounted, toggle-type electrical switch.
It is an object of this invention to provide a decorative wall plate which hides the screws used to mount the cover plate over the switch box and which can be easily modified to match or to contrast with the surrounding surface.
It is a further object of this invention to provide decorative slider caps to cover the conventional switch toggle member with geometric forms.
It is still another object of this invention to provide transparent members to permit the user to design his/her own wall plate and slider cap.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide compound geometric slider caps for multiple toggle-type electrical switches.
These and further objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reference to the below described figures and specification.